How to say "brother" in Arabic
CognateMeaningbrother
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
أَخ
akhאח'
أخ
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
אח
akhأَخ
How the two words are related
Cognate
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Arabic root
أ-خ-وHebrew root
א-חAkh is Hebrew ach (אח) exactly — Arabic kh (خ) is one of the two sounds that merged into Hebrew ח.
Learn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
خُويَا
khūyaח'ויאDarija's 'brother' only appears with a suffix: khūya — 'my brother', khūk — 'your brother'.
In a phrase
أَخِي الْكَبِير
akhī l-kabīrאח'י אל-כבירMy big brother.
Plural
إِخْوَة
ikhwaאח'והbroken plural iCCa; the alternative plural إخوان ikhwān survives in the name of the Muslim Brotherhood (al-Ikhwān).